Elmer Cornish

Rope Coils
 
The last bit of work on the actual model is to place all the "dummy" Rope Coils in their various positions.
 
I made several types, depending on how the line was belayed. I used a simple jig to coil the rope :
 

 
For the coils that go over railings I used this method after first coiling them on the previous jig :
 

 

 
Here's a small selection showing various types and sizes :
 

 

 
And some of the coils fitted :
 

 

 

 

 
 Danny

Pedestals
 
Not a lot to say - I turned the Mounting Pedestals on the lathe and cut the slots with the mill. They'll need slight adjustments to the slots to fit the hull. No finish has been applied yet :
 

 

 
 Danny:

Redo of Stern Lights
 
Following the comments about the way I'd swung the Stern Lights it didn't take me long to decide to redo them.
 
I had to totally remake two of them, as you can see by the pic below they didn't fit correctly into the frames. As I'd decided in the first place to show them in the open position I didn't take a lot of care to get the angles exactly right :
 

 

 
I added a top and bottom sill, and made new munions :
 

 

 

 
I'm much happier with the final result - not perfect, but a lot better .
 
 Danny

Don't cry Greg, there'll be another .
 
Capstan Bars Fitted
 
I made the capstan bars long ago when I made the capstan. I'd actually forgotten that I did, but luckily I found them before I wasted my time building another set .
 
Not much else to say, here are the pics :
 

 

 
 Danny

Stern Lights Fitted
 
Not far from the finish line now . I've fitted the three open Stern Lights that I made a few years ago :
 

 

 

 
The only things left to do now are the Capstan Bars, and all the coils for the belaying.
 
 Danny

David - Thank you for answering George's question.
 
I've finished fitting the flags. I'm not sure whether my method of hoisting them is suitable for the period, but they work quite well this way.
 
I made two toggles for each flag. One is fitted to the bottom corner of the flag, the other to the halyard at the top end. When no flag is flown the toggle and eye in the halyard are joined together :
 

 

 
The halyard goes through the sheave in the truck :
 

 
The toggle in the halyard passes through the eye in the top of the flag :
 

 
The other end of the halyard has an eye through which the toggle in the bottom corner of the flag passes :
 

 
The halyards for both flags belay to small cleats :
 

 

 
Some views of both flags. I briefly soaked them both in water, shaped them and let them dry overnight before fitting them :
 

 

 

 
 Danny

Thank you Greg and John.
 
 
I started Scratchbuilding not long after I started the AL kit of HMS Supply and found that the entire kit was not only wrong but contained a lot of garbage parts. That was about 7 years ago. After that I used the hull bulkheads of a Modeller's Shipyard kit of the Norfolk Sloop which I'd bought for my grandson to build (he didn't start it) and Scratchbuilt the rest, including milling my own timber from a chunk of Norfolk Island Pine for all the planking, masts etc.
 
Sure, lots of guys build models as good as or better than mine using just hand tools. It takes a bit longer though, especially when making multiples of the same part which can be "mass produced" on a Mill in next to no time. Others use a drill or Dremel tool to turn parts if they don't have a lathe.
 
Personally, I find it more accurate using the machines. I couldn't do some of the things I do without them.
 
An update on the Flags. I painted some Egyptian Cotton white on one side and let it dry. Then I cut a 5mm wide strip from it to make the Hoist Cloth. I glued half the width to the flag using Industrial Strength Contact Cement.
 

 

 
Next I glued a loop into each end of some 0.20mm line and PVA glued it to the middle of the hoist cloth and let it dry. Finally, I Contact Cemented the 2nd half of the cloth over itself. All that remains is to soak the flags and shape them. This is why I used the Contact - the PVA would have softened and let go :
 

 

 
 Danny

Thanks for the comments Robin, George, Spyglass, John, Pat, Mark and Greg .
 
John, I was thinking ahead (well sort of) - when I fitted the quarterdeck rail I wasn't sure if I'd fit the hammock cranes as my silver soldering skills at the time were only in their infancy. By the time I'd got around to the shrouds I'd forgotten all about the cranes   .
 
Flags
 
I have made my own flags before - on my last two models I used Silkspan with reasonably good results. Unfortunately it seems like I've left the silkspan at my daughter's place, so I thought I'd have a go at using the Egyptian Cotton which I fortunately DID bring with me, and used Artist's Acrylic paints. I figured all I had to lose was a couple of day's work. If they were a failure I would buy some from Modelflags.com who from all accounts supply some pretty good ones.
 
I started by drawing the Jack using AutoCAD. I then printed it out twice, drew up the borders for the Ensign and used the 2nd Jack in it's top corner. I taped both of these to the tops of a couple of flat containers so I could turn them in whichever direction I wanted when doing the hand painting. Then I taped the two pieces of (oversize) cotton over them. Last thing for this step was to go over the outline of each section with a pencil as they were only just visible :
 

 
I painted the White areas first, being careful to stay inside the lines as much as possible - from previous experience I'd found that it was better not to have to paint over the white, even with dark blue, as it lightened considerably and needed at least three coats to cover sufficiently :
 

 
After laboriously painting the red cross without using any masking I had the idea of using Tamiya Masking Tape for the blue areas. I tried it out on a 3rd piece I was painting for any experiments I might have needed - it worked very well, considering I was painting on a medium that it wasn't really designed for. There was a small amount of "bleeding" in some areas that needed a bit of touch-up, but it was much easier than trying to free-hand the lot  . Then I removed both flags, turned them over, and repeated the process for the other side :
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I cut the borders with a new Xacto blade and steel rule. The painted edges cut cleanly, but the small border I left for the Hoist Cloth tore out a bit as the weave of the cloth wasn't quite exactly square to the flag. A tip to avoid this is either paint the band white or use dilute PVA on it :
 

 
 Danny

A minor milepost in the overall build but a major one for me...
 
Six strakes have been added and to check how the tuck planking went, I taped the sternpost into position and took a few extra shots.   Roughly sanded (sorry about the sawdust) and there's some gaps need filling.  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good at this point.  At the stern area, I'm off by about 3" (scale) which could be tolerance buildup or one side was of the transoms was off by that much.  I'm thinking it has more to do with some tolerance buildup and the angle the planks came into tuck.  The bow is about 2" (scale) off.   
 
I do like the way the lines are shaping up with planking.
 
I need to re-mark off the hull and re-check the measurements and then do a few more strakes before putting the garboard back on.  And sand, sand, sand.... <cough><cough>:  Luckily the air filter system I've added to the workshop is doing it's job.
 



 
Comments, questions, abuse is always allowed.  Ok.. maybe not the abuse part... 

Still hammering away...    Thanks for the likes and comments.
 
Here's the latest pics.  Starboard side wide wale planking is complete.  Needs final sanding and bit more caulking (  ) of some planks that I didn't quite get fitted right.  Relatively minor fix, in my opinion.  the splotchiness is from wiping it down with water to raise the grain for the final sanding.  An interesting effect is that not all Swiss Pear is the same color.. some is darker than the others.   Interesting.
 
Next comes the narrow planks.  per measurements, I need 28 strakes.  Seven strakes at the stern to the deadwood so I need to take those into account as they are 9" planks on the counter to the deadwood. After that, they can be wider as they run to the garboard.  The bow will need serious tapering and I'm starting to mark everything out.
 
Any tips, oops, or advice appreciated.
 




 

Here's the close up pic I promised....  I'm not done sanding or "caulking"/crack filling yet and there's sawdust all over...   but you should be able to see how the ebony flows and fills the area between fore end of the channel (the open spot) and the main wale and how the main wale planking is all blended together. The wide planks (wale planks) are all about 1 foot wide, actually a bit more since the French foot was bigger than the English foot.  The rest of the planking is approximately 9 inches wide, and again, it's slightly larger than the comparible English planking.
 

 

Mobbsie, Peter - 
 
Yes, the decorative way the wale is fashioned in French ships is related to anchor stowage.  The French stiffened their longer, wider (compared to English designs) hulls by making their wales thicker and in several bands.  Between the bands the hull planking was thinner, creating a step up to the wale.  Where the anchor was hauled up for stowage the side point of the fluke could catch on it and rip up the wood.  So at the bow the thinner middle planking was exchanged for thicker stuff that created a smooth surface for the fluke to slide on.  Being French, where the thicker stuff ended, it was shaped in a stylish manner rather than just a functional end.
 
Here are two photos of the element from the QAR project
.


 
Hope that helps
 
Dan

Thanks for the "like", the comments and looking....
 
Here's the current state...  
 
The wale (wide) planking is complete on the port side.  Work is continuing on the starboard side.  I've temporarily tacked in place the garboard strakes in order to measure the remaining area for the "normal" planking strips.  I'm also sorting out how many battens I'll need...  I'm thinking probably 3 of about 8-10 planks between battens..
 
At this point, I know I'm going to need drop planks and stealers since various monographs show them...  I'm assuming this was the normal method for the French ships and not the monograph author's but haven't been able to verify it.
 
Click on the image to enlarge and as always ideas for improvement are welcomed.
 

 
 

Been a bit since that last update... I stripped off 5 strakes of planking at the stern and reworked it with some help in the form of advice and mentoring from Dan and Druxey.  They set me straight and on the right path.   I'll do a bit more sanding (still rough only for now) and then turn the hull around and to the other side.  I did some templates and the shapes look pretty close so I think that side will go a bit quicker.  I shouldn't have to plank, rip off the planks, sand and then replank several times... 
 
I have a dummy fashion piece held in with the blue pin to get the plank ends correct and I'll be fitting the real thing later. I'm not too worried about the plank ends being 100% squared up as there's a reasonably wide covering trim plank that will go over them.  Besides, isn't it supposed to be deal with one headache at a time.
 
I just noticed....my work area is beyond messy... sorry.
 
Thanks for the comments, the help, and the support.  Back to motoring on and making sawdust.
 

Slowly progressing.
 
Some special knees half way down the hull
 

 
And the progress to date
 

 
The pump well I had made years ago got a bit beaten up in storage. As I also was not very happy with some of the dimension of the stock I used I decided to make a new one. 
 

 
I made a jig to make accurate cuts for the dado's on the stanchions, it's hard to see but at the far side where the blade cuts is a thin strip of wood the width of the blade to mak each cut at the same distance.
 

 
The finished stanchions, the vertical dado's were milled.
 

 
Remco

Thanks all for your kind comments. Greg the pillars were cut freehand and with the help of a piece of paper with the cross slide settings written down.
 
More beams, knees and now its also time to add the hammock battens. They are fragile once glued in place and easily knocked off (yes I tried it...)
 

 

 

 
Remco

Thank you all for your kind words and likes.
 
Work is progressing and more knees, hanging knees, carlings and ledges are added. 
 
I also forgot to install a pillar in front of the fore mast , but that was taken care of.
 

 

 
The last opportunity to take a look at the sail room before its permanently installed in the hull
 

 
Some of the knees with mortices cut
 

 
The state of the upper deck to date
 

 

 

 
 
The next weeks will be more of the same... with the addition of installing hammock battens as I work my way across the deck
 
Remco
 
 
 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 20 – Knightheads
 
The knightheads reinforced the stem on either side and provided a base for securing the hawse timbers that formed the forward hull back to the first cant frames.  This detail is shown in the posts for the full framed version of the model.  Rising above the top of the sides, the knightheads also provided lateral support to the bowsprit.  To accommodate the 36” square section of the bowsprit, additional space was provided between knightheads by additional members, 10” thick stem timbers, bolted to the sides of the stem assembly.  The two 10” stem timbers astride the 16” thick stem provided the necessary 36” spacing for the bowsprit.
 
On the POB model only the upper parts of the knightheads and stem timbers were modeled.  In the first picture their patterns have been pasted to the correct size stock.
 

 
As with all of the stock for this demonstration model, ¾” wood was used, allowing all the thicknesses to be cut on a good model circular saw.   This was done to allow the model to be made from readily available stock without the need for a thickness sander/planer – a rather expensive tool and not one that beginning scratch builders might have.  In the next picture the members have been cut out and given an initial bevel based on the pattern lines.
 

 
These were cut from hard maple.  The knightheads will be exposed on the model but painted black.  The members to the right are shown in their relative positions.  In the next picture the starboard head timber is being fitted into the space between the stem and the most forward bulkhead.
 

 
To prepare for this, the pine spacers forward of the first bulkhead were removed by sawing and paring with a straight chisel.  These spacers had been installed to protect the forward bulkhead during initial rough fairing of the hull. 
 
In the next picture the breadth across the installed head timbers is being checked for the eventual fit of the bowsprit.
 

 
At 1:96 the breadth needs to be 3/8”.  This precise breadth was obtained by sanding the sides of the members after they were glued in.  In the next picture the port knighthead is being glued into place.
 

 
With both knightheads firmly secured they could be faired into the stem rabbet.  In the next picture a gouge is being used for this.
 

 
With the shape roughed out with the gouge, a curved rasp was used to refine it – as shown below - followed by 120-grit sandpaper.
 

 
With the knightheads in place and faired, the topside planking could begin.
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 19 – Planksheer
 
In the angle between the toptimbers and main deck beams, a massive 12” x 11” waterway was fit to reinforce the deck beam connections to the frames and to provide a watertight seal around the outer deck planking.  The planksheer was a large member that fit directly on top of the waterway and enclosed the toptimbers.  It provided a watertight cap over the hull frames, waterway and outboard planking.  It was wide enough to show as a molded rail both outboard and inboard.  It was either mortised to fit down over the toptimbers or, more likely, made in two parts that were notched to fit both inside and outside, then bolted through horizontally.  On the model, I installed the planksheer as spacers between the toptimbers capped by rails inside and out.
 
Since the planksheer rests on the waterway which in turn rests on the deck beams, I believe the height of the planksheer is most accurately set by fitting the inboard rail first.  The height was set using a temporary pine spacer cut to the depth of the waterway.  This is shown in the first picture.
 

 
Why not install the waterway first, then the planksheer?  If the model is to be painted, the waterway will be painted blue, the inboard works, including the adjoining inboard planksheer rail white.  To avoid having to cut in sharp paint lines after construction, I wanted to paint the white then install the pre-painted blue waterway below it.  The natural finish decking would later be installed against the blue waterway. The sequence to accommodate painting is also described in the posts for the 1:72 framed model – as well as in detailed in the book.  The inside rails were molded using a scraper and cut to size as described for the larger version.
 
With the inside planksheer rail glued in place to the toptimbers, spacers between toptimbers were cut and fitted – glued to the outboard face of the inner rail and end glued between toptimbers.  In the next picture, these spacers have been installed and their outer edges are being faired to the outside of the frames.
 

 
In the next picture the tops of the spacers are being filed flush with the top of the inside rail.  The upper face of the rail is horizontal in the athwartship direction.
 

 
Before the outer part of the planksheer or any exterior planking could be installed, it was necessary to fit the knightheads.  I will describe that work in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 18 – Fairing the Upper Works
 
When the hull was faired earlier, in the inverted position, little attention was paid to the upper works, so the outside of the toptimbers needed some work.  The sanding required to fair the outside of these was light.  The first picture shows this in progress using 220-grit paper on a Softsander® foam pad.
 

 
In the next picture the fairness is being checked with a pine batten.
 

 
The toptimbers were molded 6” at the top.  In the next picture this is being checked with calipers. 
 

 
You can see from the reading that they are still oversized somewhat at .076”.  They would later be faired to the final 6” (.0625”) by sanding the insides – but only after some reinforcing outer planking was in place.  However, it was necessary at this stage to fair the deck “beams” accurately – as shown in the next photo.
 

 
Fairing of the deck was particularly important to avoid waviness in the thin deck planking that would be added later.  In the next picture this is being checked during the sanding process using a pine batten.
 

 
When this work was being done, I did not expect to take this model to much further and consequently spent less time getting the deck line faired than I should have.  I will show the final deck planking later.  While acceptable, more attention at this stage would have yielded a truly beautiful installation of the long, spacious open main deck..
 
With this work completed, the construction of the topside planking and rails could begin.
 
 
Ed
 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 17 – Bottom Planking
 
I have mentioned a number of times that the 1:96 POB version shown in these posts was constructed as a demonstration model for the book (now available from SeaWatch).  After reaching this stage in the build, the text in the book applies equally to both models and the same methods apply to complete either model.  For all of that subsequent work, the 1:72 model was used in the descriptive photos to avoid confusion and the excessive space requirements to show both.  Although I believe the book describes both versions well, I thought that anyone wanting to build the POB version would find the many pictures I was taking useful and interesting.  For that reason (and because I was having fun with this version) I decided to take it to a further state of completion and post pictures of that work here.
 
There is no bottom planking on the fully framed model, but this version would clearly require full planking to cover the bulkheads and spacers.  The first picture shows the first several strakes above the thick garboard being installed.
 

 
I used hard maple for all this planking.  The picture shows typical clamping.  Thumb tacks proved very useful and easy to use on this work.  The soft pine spacers between bulkheads allowed these to be pushed in by hand but some required tapping with a hammer.  The clamps were used to close the planking joints in the very lowest strakes.
 
The next picture shows the planking being levelled off next to the thicker garboard using a flat #0 cut riffler, one of my favorite tools for this kind of work.
 

 
The bottom planking is 4” thick above the garboard.  I ripped the planks to 5” to allow for some smoothing out and some finish sanding.  Since all of the planking on this model would likely be painted or metal sheathed, I dispensed with pre-painting the edges of the planks and the use of dark glue.  The next picture shows some work near midship.
 

 
Drawing pins also work well in the pine substructure as shown in the next picture, but in general I used thumb tacks.  The type with plastic covered heads are best.  With the tapping in and prying out the attrition rate on thumb tacks was high.
 

 
The clamp shown at the stem applies quite a lot of pressure to hold the “hooding ends” tight in the rabbet.
 
As planking begins to proceed upward, additional strakes need to be cut in at the ends so that the planking will eventually match the sheer of the wale above.  I began inserting these - as shown in the following pictures – when the lines of planking began to appear drooped at the ends when viewed from the side.  In the first picture the cutting in point is being marked.
 

 
In the next picture the installed plank is being pared back to one-half its width while preserving a fair line forward.
 

 
In the next picture the partial strake has been fitted and is, itself, being marked for another cut in strake.
 

 
In the next picture that strake is being glued in place.
 

 
Although difficult to see in this last picture, the same process was applying at the stern.
 

 
At about this point, work on the lower planking was discontinued until later and the focus shifted to the upper works where much work awaited.
 
Ed

Actually, I find that I have seen pictures of the model before.  Here is another I found in my file:
 

 
Ed
 

Ed.....your doing a fantastic job on this build of the YA.  I just want to let you know you are a super encourager and motivator for the skilled model making minded individual. Only one other example that I have found can equal or at least be near to your superb vessel is this fine reproduction.
 
I thought I'd post this pic so as to demonstrate the near exactness to your own model.
 
Amazing....both..no..all three are amazing.
 
Rob

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 16 – Garboard Strake
 
The planking of the lower hull begins at the keel with the installation of the garboard strake, heavy (7” X 18”) members, bolted through the deadwood and edge bolted into the keel.  At the ends of the ship the garboard strake is expanded into two strakes to begin the upward sheer of the bottom planking and to further strengthen to narrow deadwood at these points.
 
In the first picture the aft section of the garboard has been fitted against the post and is being marked for the insertion of the second strake “stealer”.
 

 
In the next picture the strake was cut to receive the second section and is being held in place to check the final fit..
 

 
This strake members were then glued in place as shown below and over the entire length of the hull with a similar joint for a second strake at the bow.
 

 
Because this strake twists to fay against the curving hull, a lot of clamps were needed.  The next picture shows the aft section after the piece of second strake was installed.
 

 
I did not use dark glue for any of the hull planking since the intention is to paint and sheath the hull later.  Hard maple was used for all of this planking.
 
The last picture shows the forward part of the garboard, with the joint lines emphasized on the image to show the configuration.
 

 
In this picture, it can be seen that the line of the rabbet runs just aft of the joint line between the stem and false stem.
 
Note that in the last two pictures the garboard thins down to match the depth of the rabbet in the stem and sternpost.  The garboard was, of course, installed on both sides of the hull at this stage.  Since it is intended to sheath this lower hull, I did not install any of the bolts, as I would have done on the fully framed version – if I had installed the garboard on that model. 
 
Above the garboard, the planking thickness drops to 4”.  The beginning of that work will be shown in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 15 – Final Hull Fairing
 
Once the keel/stem/sternpost assembly was installed, the final fairing of the hull into the rabbet could be done.  Along the stem and keel the joint with the hull is on the bearding line, so the first step was to fair the hull along this line to meet the thickness of the stem/keel (16”), which is the hull breadth at that line.  In the first picture the “hump” on the hull spine is being pared back to match the width of the keel.
 

 
In the next picture a riffler is being used to produce the final faired surface at the stem.
 

 
At the stem the area outside of the bearding line must be further pared back smoothly into the stem rabbet that was cut before assembly.  In the next picture that is being done with a shallow gouge.
 

 
In the next picture the fairness in this area is being checked with a strip of planking.
 

 
The same process was repeated at the stern – and of course on both sides.  The hump along the keel at the stern is being removed in the next picture.
 

 
Sanding is always the final step.
 

 
The final sanding of the hull was done using 120-grit paper.
 
With the hull now fully faired the bevels on the aft face of the sternpost were filed off as shown below, while the model was inverted.
 

 
The post bevels allowed the rudder to swing over its full arc without being obstructed by the post.  After this work, the lower hull was ready to be planked.
 
And by the way, thanks again for all the likes and especially the nice comments.
 
Ed